HOW PARENTS CAN ENCOURAGE THEIR DAUGHTERS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION Offer all children books with strong female characters and toys without gender bias. Encourage your daughters to play with typically masculine toys such as building blocks, erector sets, chemistry sets, ant farms and others. Encourage all children to participate in dinner table conversation; don't let the quieter children be dominated by the more vocal ones. Reward and compliment your daughters for their academic achievements, don't just praise them for their appearance or behavior. Encourage your daughters to take tough classes. Don't let them opt out of math or science classes because they are stressful and could bring down their grade point averages. Let them know you will accept lower grades in these subjects, as long as they are making a concerted effort in their classwork. Find female mentors for your daughters in science and medical fields. Enlist your circle of friends, your own physician or even contact local hospitals or scientific companies about mentoring programs. Provide some single-sex activities, such as Girl Scouting, where girls get to take a leadership role, learn new skills and build their confidence. Teach your daughters skills usually stereotyped as masculine, such as caring for the car, home repairs and lawn maintenance. Don't let them be afraid to get dirty or learn a "hands-on" approach to doing things.